Congo (film)
| screenplay = John Patrick Shanley | based on = | starring = | music = Jerry Goldsmith | cinematography = Allen Daviau | editing = Anne V. Coates | studio = The Kennedy/Marshall Company | distributor = Paramount Pictures | released = | runtime = 109 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $50 million | gross = $152 million }} 'Congo' is a 1995 science fiction action-adventure film loosely based on Michael Crichton's novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Frank Marshall starring Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Grant Heslov and Joe Don Baker. The film was released on June 9, 1995, by Paramount Pictures. ''Congo received quite negative reviews but performed better than Paramount expected. Plot While testing a communications laser in a remote part of the Congo jungle, TraviCom employees Charles Travis and Jeffrey Weems discover the ruins of a lost city near a volcanic site. Karen Ross, assisting at TraviCom's headquarters, does not hear back from their team and activates a remote camera, discovering the camp destroyed with numerous corpses, before something large destroys the camera. Karen alerts TraviCom's CEO and Charles' father, R.B. Travis, who informs her that the group was actually searching for a rare blue diamond. Travis implores Karen to lead another expedition to the site to find his son, who is also her former fiancé. Meanwhile, Peter Elliott, a primatologist at the University of California, Berkeley, and his assistant Richard teach human communication to primates using a mountain gorilla named Amy. With a specialized backpack and glove, her sign language is translated to a digitized voice. Despite the success, Peter is concerned by Amy’s drawings of jungles and the Eye of Providence, and seeks funding to return Amy to Africa, but the university is reluctant. Romanian philanthropist Herkermer Homolka offers to fund the expedition. Having learned of the trip, Karen has been bugging Peter via calls and messages to join his expedition since her visas are worthless without being connected to him. At first he is reluctant, but once Homolka's credit almost stops the trip, her money comes in handy. In Africa, the group meets expert guide Captain Monroe Kelly but are captured by local militia leader Captain Wanta, who grants them passage for a sizable bribe which the well funded Karen again provides. Amy, threatened by the presence of another female near Peter, repeatedly insults Karen. As the group boards another plane, Monroe reveals that Homolka has led previous safaris in search of the "Lost City of Zinj", with disastrous results. The group parachutes into the jungle just before their plane is shot down by Zairean soldiers. On the ground, they encounter a native Ghost Tribe. The tribe leads them to Bob Driscoll, a member of Charles' expedition in a catatonic state. On seeing Amy, Bob begins screaming and soon dies. The group continues by boat, and learn that Homolka, in search of Zinj and its fabled diamond, believes that Amy's drawings suggest she has seen the mine and can lead them there. After an attack by hippos, they find the ruined camp and the nearby city of Zinj. While searching the city, Richard decides to stay outside and he and the guard left with him are killed by a grey gorilla. They take shelter at the ruined camp, keeping other gorillas at bay with a perimeter created with high tech equipment sent by Karen's boss. Homolka announces that he translated the hieroglyphs, which say, "We are watching you". When day breaks, they find Homolka, several aides and Amy missing. Agreeing to find and return their human companions first, they return to the city. They surmise that the city’s inhabitants specially bred the grey gorillas, encouraging their violent tendencies to guard the mine and kill anyone looking to steal the diamonds. The group suspects the gorillas turned on their masters yet still protect the mine. They find the diamond mine and detecting their presence, the grey gorillas begin to emerge from their caves. Homolka, crazy with lust begins to collect diamonds as the others try to warn him to stop. Unwilling to leave the diamonds, is cornered then killed by a pack of gorillas. Monroe, Karen, and Peter fight off the gorillas and flee deeper into the mine, where they discover Charles' body, holding a giant blue diamond. As Amy protects Peter, Monroe fends the other gorillas off while Karen fits the diamond into a portable laser. The volcano begins to erupt, and Monroe, Karen, Peter and Amy escape as the city is flooded with lava, killing the gorillas. Once safe, Karen reports to Travis on finding the diamond and confirming Charles' death. Realizing Travis was only interested in the diamond, she uses her laser to destroy the TraviCom satellite. In the nearby wreckage of another one of Travis' expedition cargo plane, they find a usable hot-air balloon, and prepare to leave. Peter sees Amy with a troop of silverback gorillas and bids her goodbye. The three take off in the balloon, and Karen has Peter throw away the diamond. Cast * Laura Linney as Karen Ross, an electronics expert for TraviCom, and a former CIA operative, who hopes to find her ex-fiancé lost in a previous expedition to the Congo. * Dylan Walsh as Peter Elliott, a primatologist of Berkeley, California who wants to return his gorilla, Amy, to her birthplace in the Congo's Virunga region. * Ernie Hudson as Captain Monroe Kelly, the "Great White Hunter" and mercenary who leads the group. * Tim Curry as Herkermer Homolka, a Romanian man who offers to finance the expedition. He poses as a wealthy philanthropist, but is soon revealed to be in dire financial straits. His real aim is to find the mythical Lost City of Zinj, where he lost another expedition some years before. * Grant Heslov as Richard, Peter's research assistant. * Joe Don Baker as R.B. Travis, TraviCom's CEO, Charles' father and Karen's boss. He wants to find the diamond mines to finance and expand his satellite technologies. * Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Kahega, Munro's deputy and leader of the expedition's African porters. * Joe Pantoliano as Eddie Ventro, an American living in Central Africa who hires Munro, and organizes the group's transportation and materials. * Delroy Lindo as Captain Wanta (uncredited), a corrupt Ugandan military officer whom the group must bribe in order to gain safe passage. * John Hawkes as Bob Driscoll * Kevin Grevioux as Roadblock Officer * Bruce Campbell as Charlie Travis, Karen's ex-fiancé and R.B.'s son. * Taylor Nichols as Jeffrey Weems, Charlie's friend who was in the previous expedition with Charlie. Production After the success of The First Great Train Robbery, Crichton decided to write a screenplay specifically for Sean Connery, as the character of Charles Munro, an archetypal "great white hunter" akin to H. Rider Haggard's hero, Allan Quatermain. The film was envisioned as an homage to classic pulp adventure tales, and Crichton successfully pitched the movie to 20th Century Fox in 1979 without a fleshed out story. However, the film ran into problems when Crichton learned that he could not use a real gorilla to portray the character of Amy, which led to him leaving the project. From there, it was offered to several directors including Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter who both declined. A brief attempt was made to revive the project in the late 1980s but to no avail. Eventually, Frank Marshall directed the film with little, if any, involvement from Crichton. The film's teaser credits John Patrick Shanley and Crichton as co-screenwriters, but the subsequent trailer and the film itself credit Shanley alone. Release In the United States, the film grossed $81,022,101. The final worldwide gross $152,022,101 worldwide versus a $50,000,000 budget. Reception Rotten Tomatoes retroactively collected 49 reviews to give the film an approval rating of 22%. Metacritic rated it 22/100 based on 19 reviews, meaning "generally unfavorable reviews". Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times rated it 3 out of 4 stars. He called the film a splendid example of a genre no longer much in fashion, the jungle adventure story. It was also nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards. Hal Hinson of the Washington Post called the film a "Spielberg knockoff...shamelessly lifting themes and ideas from a handful of Steven's greatest hits." Hinson also criticized Amy the gorilla as "the most disappointing 'performance' of all" and opined that the supporting actors, Tim Curry and Ernie Hudson, stood out more than the lead actors. Awards and nominations In other media A video game based on the film, Congo The Movie: The Lost City of Zinj, was released in 1996. A different game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis was in development, but was cancelled. Another adventure game was released for PC and Macintosh called Congo The Movie: Descent Into Zinj. A pinball machine named Congo was produced that was based on the film. References External links * * * * Category:1995 films Category:1995 horror films Category:1990s adventure films Category:1990s monster movies Category:1990s science fiction action films Category:American films Category:American monster movies Category:American natural horror films Category:American science fiction action films Category:American Sign Language films Category:English-language films Category:Swahili-language films Category:Films about apes Category:Films based on science fiction novels Category:Film scores by Jerry Goldsmith Category:Films based on works by Michael Crichton Category:Films directed by Frank Marshall Category:Films produced by Sam Mercer Category:Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Category:Films set in Africa Category:Films set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Category:Films shot in Uganda Category:Jungle adventure films Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley Category:Techno-thriller films Category:The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Category:Treasure hunt films